Gov. DeSantis allows voting changes after hurricane, but voting and civil rights groups want more

A day after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order allowing Supervisors of Elections in 13 counties affected by Hurricane Helene to make changes to voting procedures, representatives of civil rights and voting rights groups said Friday that he needs to go further, as the deadline to register for the Nov. 5 General Election falls on Monday.

Earlier this week, the Florida Supervisors of Elections (FSE) sent a letter to the Governor warning that “a significant number of early voting sites and polling locations have been damaged or otherwise rendered unusable, a significant number of voters have been displaced, and a significant number of poll workers may be unavailable for the foreseeable future.”

DeSantis responded with an order similar to one he signed almost exactly two years ago after Hurricane Ian levelled parts of Southwest Florida.

His new order suspends the statute prohibiting Election Supervisors from moving a voting location or designated ballot “intake station” (also known as a drop box) to another site less than 30 days before the election; waives the requirement that poll workers can only be hired if they are registered voters in the same county in which they will work the polls; and allows voters’ requests to send mail ballots somewhere other than the home address they had on file.

The 13 counties listed as being affected by Helene are: Charlotte, Citrus, Dixie, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, and Taylor.


https://floridapolitics.com/archives/700089-gov-desantis-allows-voting-changes-after-hurricane-but-voting-and-civil-rights-groups-want-more/